These body swap movies knew how to switch things up. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most memorable films where two or more characters trade places.
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00:00 "This isn't happening, this isn't happening!"
00:02 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most memorable films
00:07 where two or more characters trade places. We will however be excluding reincarnation,
00:12 age transformations, and possessions. Since some of these swaps reveal major plot points,
00:17 beware of spoilers ahead.
00:19 "Oh, I beg your pardon?"
00:21 "Oh, I'm like the Crypt Keeper!"
00:25 Number 10. Seed of Chucky
00:28 "Give me the power, I beg of you!"
00:31 In 1988's Child's Play, fleeing serial killer Charles Lee Ray performs a voodoo ritual to
00:37 transfer his soul into a good guy doll. We hear you loud and clear, yes, this is technically
00:42 possession. "Hi, it's me, Chucky."
00:46 "What do you think?"
00:48 However, Chucky isn't the only character to exchange one vessel for another. In 2004's
00:54 Super Meta Seed of Chucky, his "bride" Tiffany Valentine succeeds in ditching her
00:59 Wedding Bell doll form and taking over actress Jennifer Tilly's body.
01:02 The movie ends with Tiff raising her twins, Glenn and Glenda, leaving us to assume the
01:10 real Ms. Tilly didn't survive the switch. But the Chucky TV series eventually revealed that
01:15 she was indeed alive, and her soul had been trapped inside the doll all this time. That
01:21 is one bad trade if you're Ms. Tilly.
01:23 "Hmm, isn't that precious? Nice try, Jennifer, now you're just going to have to write it
01:31 again."
01:32 Number 9. Scooby-Doo
01:34 "Daphne, you okay?"
01:35 "Yeah, but I'm not Daphne!"
01:40 Early on in Raja Gosnell and James Gunn's 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo, we see the
01:46 gang call it quits. Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby go their separate ways,
01:50 but later unknowingly reunite for a new case on Spooky Island.
01:54 "I'm Emil Monteverius, the owner of this amusement park."
01:59 "You seem less…"
02:00 "Spooky!"
02:02 "…than we'd have guessed."
02:03 The estranged members of Mystery, Inc. get reacquainted, though in a very bizarre way.
02:08 After being temporarily possessed by the island demons, Fred and Daphne's souls return to
02:13 their bodies… only they return to the wrong ones.
02:17 "He planned this somehow, didn't he?"
02:19 "Hey, good-looking."
02:21 Shaggy and Velma are pulled into the chaos as the demon Ritus expels and relaunches their
02:26 souls a few different times, before finally securing everyone into the right bodies.
02:31 "Hey, I'm me again. Yippee for you."
02:35 "Man, like why am I wearing a dress?"
02:39 The whole movie is a wild ride from beginning to end, but this brief sequence never fails
02:43 to entertain.
02:44 Number 8. The Skeleton Key
02:47 "Hi, Ben. Remember me? I'm Caroline. I'll be taking care of you for a while."
02:53 Kate Hudson leads the supernatural Southern gothic thriller as Caroline Ellis,
02:57 a home health care nurse hired by a woman named Violet Devereaux to be a live-in
03:01 caretaker for her husband, Ben.
03:02 "You're scrawnier than I'd hoped. Prettier, though."
03:06 At their isolated plantation house in Louisiana, she notices that things are "off" and soon
03:11 uncovers its dark past involving skilled hoodoo practitioners Mama Cecile and Papa Justify.
03:18 "Oh, they were famous all through the pipes. They healed the sick and they hurt the mean."
03:25 The couple worked as servants for the wealthy homeowner until one night they were killed
03:29 for exposing his children to their rituals. The big twist? Cecile and Justify had already
03:34 swapped with the two kids before their deaths. As their bodies aged, they continued to perform
03:38 the body-switching ritual, and set their sights on a new target, Caroline.
03:43 "See this? This is your spell of protection."
03:46 "Is that what that is now? And who exactly gave you that spell?
03:52 All that circle protects is you. From leaving it."
03:59 Number 7. Prelude to a Kiss
04:01 "Congratulations. Both of you. Thank you very much."
04:06 The stage-to-screen adaptation of Craig Lucas' popular play Prelude to a Kiss is a standout
04:11 among the usual soul-switching stories. Alec Baldwin's Peter Hoskins and Meg Ryan's Rita
04:16 Boyle are an unlikely couple, proving that opposites do attract.
04:20 "Will you marry me?"
04:21 What should be the happiest day of their life is unintentionally altered by an old man's odd,
04:33 yet seemingly harmless request for a kiss from Rita.
04:36 "My blessings to you."
04:43 The kind-hearted gesture somehow causes their spirits to swap,
04:51 leaving the young newlywed and the elder in a bizarre predicament.
04:54 "I want to have your baby.
04:55 I want your baby inside me."
05:05 "You don't want babies. Don't you remember?"
05:10 It isn't until later that they theorize their mutual age-related envy and anxieties about death
05:15 likely spark the switch.
05:17 "If I could just get inside, I'll kiss the bride, I'll be the bride.
05:21 My whole life would be behind me. My whole life would be ahead of me again."
05:25 Number 6. The Change-Up
05:29 "Look at this. Yeah, it's you."
05:33 In what is easily the raunchiest comedy on this list, Jason Bateman stars as Dave Lockwood,
05:38 a married father of three and hard-working lawyer. His friend Mitch Planko, played by
05:42 Ryan Reynolds, enjoys a decidedly different life as an irresponsible bachelor. After a night of
05:48 drinking, the two buddies relieve themselves in a nearby fountain, simultaneously admitting they
05:53 each envy the other's life. "You know, just saying that I really envy your life." "I envy yours."
05:58 "No you don't, you're just trying to be nice." "I'm not trying to be nice. I do, I envy it."
06:02 Dave and Mitch awake the next morning to the shocking discovery that their flippant comments
06:06 have become reality, forcing them to adapt to their contrasting lifestyles, which they each
06:11 come to appreciate. "You don't get off that easy. My marriage is falling apart, my job is on the
06:15 line. You're gonna do the best possible for me, you can be right now." "Dave, you don't understand,
06:18 I cannot do this, and not even for another hour." Although The Change-Up doesn't offer any fresh
06:23 takes on the body swap trope, we love to see comedic geniuses Bateman and Reynolds
06:28 expertly play against type. "Because there's more to being a lawyer than what you see on TV, Mitch."
06:32 "Is there?" "Yeah." "I object!" "Oh my god." "Okay." "No, wrong."
06:38 Number 5. Family Switch
06:40 "Would you take a picture of my family, please?" "Oh, it would be my pleasure."
06:43 In this Netflix holiday-set family film, Jess and Bill Walker feel increasingly disconnected
06:49 from their kids Cece and Wyatt. Everyone has their own thing going on that the others don't fully
06:54 understand, resulting in many arguments. "Honey, if you just applied yourself-"
06:58 "I hate when you say 'apply myself,' Mom, we are different people. You literally just want me to
07:02 be you. Suffocate it." Their swap-triggering incident goes down at the Griffith Observatory,
07:08 when a stranger snaps a photo of the Walker clan just as the planets align. Jess, Bill, Cece,
07:13 and Wyatt go through a double father-son mother-daughter body swap, while baby Miles
07:18 also trades places with their dog Pickles, though we're not sure how that happened.
07:22 "Uh, what's wrong with Pickles?"
07:30 "What's going on with Miles?"
07:31 The usual mix-ups and awkward situations ensue, all while their family grows closer. Family Switch
07:38 even pokes fun at the unoriginal premise, considering the cast, cleverly name-dropping
07:43 classics like 17 Again and 13 Going on 30. "You're telling me I'm 17 again."
07:48 "I'm 13 going on 30." Number 4. Your Name
07:51 "Where...huh?"
07:54 Makoto Shinkai's critically acclaimed anime Your Name took body switching and turned it into a
08:00 cosmic love story. Teenager Mitsuha Miyamizu is tired of performing her family's ancient
08:05 traditions and just wants to leave behind small-town life in rural Itomori, Japan.
08:11 She wishes she could be someone else, specifically a boy living in Tokyo.
08:15 "I hate this town! I hate this life, too! Please make me a handsome Tokyo boy in my next life!"
08:23 Though she believes it's a dream at first, Mitsuha realizes she inexplicably swapped
08:28 bodies with Tokyo high schooler Taki Tachibana, and over time they develop a romantic connection.
08:34 "Taki? Taki? It's me! Don't you remember?"
08:45 The film's non-linear structure makes it difficult to follow the twists and turns of the plot and
08:51 dual timelines, but with its stunning visuals and intriguing characters, we don't mind a much-needed
08:56 rewatch or two. "It looks like magic hour is almost over."
09:01 Number 3. Wish Upon a Star
09:04 This 90s Disney Channel gem follows constantly quarreling sisters Alexia and Hayley Wheaton,
09:13 who are polar opposites when it comes to, well, pretty much everything.
09:17 "Gonna be late again. Top of my all. Who said anything about being late?"
09:23 Katherine Heigl stars as Alexia, the popular girl in high school who spends her time with
09:27 fellow mean-girl fashionistas and her jock boyfriend. Younger sibling Hayley,
09:31 played by Danielle Harris, is nowhere near as social and keeps her focus on school and grades.
09:37 Both are secretly jealous of each other's attributes, so when a shooting star comes
09:41 along, they separately make the same wish. "I wish I were Alexia Wheaton."
09:46 It's not long before the newly swapped Alexia and Hayley make it their mission to ruin the
09:51 other's reputation. However, learning about each other's personal pressures firsthand
09:56 helps them squash the sibling rivalry and work together to reverse it.
10:00 "How do you feel?" "Tall."
10:02 Number 2. Freaky
10:07 "May I ask you a question?" "What?"
10:09 "Yeah, just, you know, I'm just curious, what do I look like? Like when you're seeing me?"
10:13 Waking up to find yourself in a body that's not yours is terrifying enough,
10:17 but for Millie Kessler, the person she unwittingly swapped with happens to be
10:21 the Blissfield Butcher, the town slasher who attacked her post-homecoming game
10:25 with a mysterious dagger. "Who would do something like this?"
10:28 "The Blissfield Butcher." "He's just an urban legend, he's not real."
10:33 Millie begs besties Nyla and Josh to help with this supernatural situation,
10:36 while also trying to be cool in front of her crush and dodging the police.
10:45 Meanwhile, the Butcher uses his new look to his sinister advantage,
10:49 easily taking care of Millie's regular tormentors. Horror fans loved this fresh take on the often
10:55 overdone subgenre, with high praise going to Vince Vaughn and Catherine Newton for
10:58 their nuanced performances. "So he stabbed me with the dola,
11:02 which is like this ancient mystical dagger, and now I have like less than six hours to swap back
11:07 or I'm gonna be stuck in his body forever." "You're all going to jail for this."
11:11 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:15 Selfless. Another Ryan Reynolds switch, but with a very different tone.
11:19 "Has that new body smell?" Like father, like son. From old and
11:28 ambitious to young and rebellious. "Are you in there?"
11:31 "Yeah, dad. I'm old." The Secret. A tragic thriller with an
11:37 unsettling mother-daughter swap. "What you're talking about is impossible."
11:44 "Ben, this is me, Hannah, your wife." It's a boy-girl thing. Woody and Nell go
11:49 from enemies to each other. "God, you think I'm responsible for this?"
11:53 "I certainly am not, and you're the one who always knows everything."
11:56 "That does not include this." Jumanji The Next Level.
12:00 In another adventurous outing, Martha and Fridge temporarily trade avatars.
12:05 "I mean, what am I supposed to do with this?" "You read the map?"
12:08 "I don't want to read the map. I'm supposed to be her. Instead, there's actual hair growing out
12:13 of my face." Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to
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12:30 Number 1. Freaky Friday "Honey, look, I think something's happened to us."
12:38 "What are you?" Since it was published in 1972,
12:42 Mary Rogers' Freaky Friday has gone through numerous page-to-screen adaptations,
12:46 and chances are you've seen at least one of them. All stick to the same plot,
12:50 following a mother and daughter constantly at odds, wishing the other would understand
12:55 their struggles. "Why can't I just go? Please!" "And what I hear is that my special night means
13:00 absolutely nothing to you." After a heated exchange, each of them wakes up the next
13:05 morning in the other's body, and awkward hijinks ensue. "Ready?" "Yeah." "Go!"
13:10 Although Rogers' novel doesn't detail how the switch happens, the 1976 film was set on Friday
13:20 the 13th, while Disney Channel's iterations used amulets in 1995 and an hourglass in 2018.
13:26 2003's Freaky Friday sees Lindsay Lohan's Anna and Jamie Lee Curtis' test swap after reading
13:32 fortune cookies, which many consider to be the definitive take. "Oh my God, what have you done
13:37 to me?" "Do you like it?" Did your favorite body swap flick make the list? Let us know in the
13:42 comments below. "A day without a care, how I wish you'd understand and see the world my way."
13:49 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo,
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